Travelling to the US via Heathrow

[twln 1]

Hi all,

 

I'm flying to Chicago shortly, to visit my spouse, from Scotland and via Heathrow.

 

My question is; has anyone flown to the US from the UK recently and if so, what did you have to do (if anything).

 

I have our marriage certificate, a copy of the procolomation excluding spouses, a copy of my spouse's passport, and have checked that my ESTA hasn't been cancelled.

 

If anyone could offer some advice I'd very much appreciate it!

 

Thanks.

[PBabz 137]

I took a trip at the beginning of September to see my husband; flew into Dulles via Heathrow. 
Some advice from my journey:

1. DON’T CHECK IN ONLINE 

2. Get to the airport early, since you’ll need to check in at a desk and speak to someone

3. Bring along all that you mentioned you have prepared already 

4. Make sure you know where you’ll be staying and be prepared to give this address when checking in (an employee from homeland security was at Heathrow and asked for details from me)

5. Have a wonderful trip, enjoy every moment  most know about the exception to the proclamation by this point so you shouldn’t have any issues really 🤞🏽

Edited December 3, 2020 by PBabz

[twln 1]

34 minutes ago, PBabz said:

I took a trip at the beginning of September to see my husband; flew into Dulles via Heathrow. 
Some advice from my journey:

1. DON’T CHECK IN ONLINE 

2. Get to the airport early, since you’ll need to check in at a desk and speak to someone

3. Bring along all that you mentioned you have prepared already 

4. Make sure you know where you’ll be staying and be prepared to give this address when checking in (an employee from homeland security was at Heathrow and asked for details from me)

5. Have a wonderful trip, enjoy every moment  most know about the exception to the proclamation by this point so you shouldn’t have any issues really 🤞🏽

Thank you very much for the quick response! Did you fly straight from Heathrow or did you connect through Heathrow? My only concern is that my first flight is from Glasgow and I'm not sure how accustomed they are/have been to this whole situation! 

[PBabz 137]

7 hours ago, twln said:

Thank you very much for the quick response! Did you fly straight from Heathrow or did you connect through Heathrow? My only concern is that my first flight is from Glasgow and I'm not sure how accustomed they are/have been to this whole situation! 

My pleasure.. happy to be able to try and help others from my experience. 
I flew straight from Heathrow. The lady working at the check in desk was very helpful. I recall speaking to my husband about the trip and him calling USCIS to verify that I would be able to travel. 
Understand your trepidation, but I’m feeling like I’ve seen a number of people flying from Glasgow without issue. 
 

Hang in there and we’ll see if we get some more responses 👍🏽

[GringoCarioca 16]

Hi Pbabz,

This is very helpful as my spouse recently got an immigrant IR1 visa and we are flying back in mid Dec through Heathrow as well.

 

Question on your first point.

Why not check-in online?

We have some extra bags we would like to pay to check in and we're thinking of doing that the night before instead of at the desk.

 

Also, which copy of the proclamation did you print off to have on hand?

I realize there are ones dated at different times....

 

We have marriage cert etc and I'll be with my spouse so that's easy enough to show ID on the spot as well flying together.

 

Thanks!

 

14 hours ago, PBabz said:

I took a trip at the beginning of September to see my husband; flew into Dulles via Heathrow. 
Some advice from my journey:

1. DON’T CHECK IN ONLINE 

2. Get to the airport early, since you’ll need to check in at a desk and speak to someone

3. Bring along all that you mentioned you have prepared already 

4. Make sure you know where you’ll be staying and be prepared to give this address when checking in (an employee from homeland security was at Heathrow and asked for details from me)

5. Have a wonderful trip, enjoy every moment  most know about the exception to the proclamation by this point so you shouldn’t have any issues really 🤞🏽

 

[PBabz 137]

15 minutes ago, GringoCarioca said:

Hi Pbabz,

This is very helpful as my spouse recently got an immigrant IR1 visa and we are flying back in mid Dec through Heathrow as well.

 

Question on your first point.

Why not check-in online?

We have some extra bags we would like to pay to check in and we're thinking of doing that the night before instead of at the desk.

 

Also, which copy of the proclamation did you print off to have on hand?

I realize there are ones dated at different times....

 

We have marriage cert etc and I'll be with my spouse so that's easy enough to show ID on the spot as well flying together.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Situation is a little different for you, @GringoCarioca - checking in online shouldn't be a problem because your spouse has a visa.

There have however been instances where others in the forum have been travelling like @twln on an ESTA and have had their ESTAs cancelled while on board the plane of all things!?

 

You should have no issues travelling with your spouse on their IR1 visa though, adding baggage, etc, whatever you might need to do.

 

I think there's only one proclamation specifically pertaining to travel and immigration - it should be the one dated 11 March 2020 if I'm not mistaken? 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspension-entry-immigrants-nonimmigrants-certain-additional-persons-pose-risk-transmitting-2019-novel-coronavirus/

 

Hopefully some of that has been helpful for both of you. 

Good luck with your travels